The River Radius Podcast

Devon Barker-Hicks is an Idaho born and raised river runner, growing up in the Barker family of river outfitters. She is a lifelong public school teacher, a global kayak competitor, and a dedicated advocate and protector of the waters and rivers of Idaho. Her program "Dare to Kayak," brings kayaking to the public schools of Idaho, and a film about that same program premiers on July 22nd in Riggins...

Each year American Rivers, a national river focused advocacy organization publishes a list of 10 rivers that are beautiful rivers and rivers that want our engagement. These are the rivers of the 2026 Most Endangered Rivers List. American Rivers first published the Most Endangered Rivers List in 1984, and now 41 years later, they still bring to our attention ten rivers of elevated importance. This...

What happens when you invite the best river kayaking athletes from around the world to meet up for a 3-day race on the wild and rowdy Class 5 North Fork of the Payette River under the big sun and blue sky of Idaho? You get the North Fork Championship of 2026. After a multi-year hiatus, one of the favorite races among paddlers and fans is back, now with a solid foundation and strategic stability to...

This is our 5th of five episodes with various River Forecast Centers of the United States. In the uppermost northeast corner of the US, the Northeast River Forecast Center is bound on three sides by water: the Great Lakes to the west, Canada's lakes and bays to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The mountains of this region collect this moisture from various weather events and send tha...

The Southeast River Forecast Center hosts a landscape that has the Appalachian Mountains in the north, is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to its east and the Gulf of Mexico to its south, has the Florida Peninsula jutting into those ocean waters, and lowlands between the oceans and mountains. Rain and hurricanes are powerful and important parts of the climate in the Southeast and this region has the...

What will the rivers of the Colorado Basin have for flow this year? Many rivers already had one peak in March during the heat dome, and a second peak is expected in May. But as spring in the Rocky Mountains is unpredictable, it is currently snowing and raining in the northern basin. This episode is the third in a series of five interviews with the River Forecast Centers of the United States.  Our...

With the unique winter and spring weather events creating a mixed snowpack and melt season, this episode talks with the California Nevada River Forecast Center to learn details about the expected river flows this spring and summer in their region, and to look at what types of precipitation might load up for the summer and fall. This is the 2nd episode in a series of five episodes talking with five...

As rivers in the west fill with spring runoff, we begin a series of episodes with various river hydrologists from four River Forecast Centers across the country. In this episode, we talk with the Northwest River Forecast Center in Oregon to learn about this past winter's precipitation and what flows will emerge this spring and summer. This episode is focused on the Columbia River Basin. Our guest...

In the State of Colorado, the couple hundred rivers and several thousand streams are extremely popular for fishing, boating, swimming, all the river things. And while people typically have access to these waterways, the laws on access in the state are not clear and could potentially lock up access when rivers run next to and through private property. Currently two groups are working to secure acce...

Rowing is loosely defined as the act, or the art, of moving a boat through water with two oars, powered by a human. As a professional river guide, Kelsey Pfendler rows boats down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In early May of 2026, she will embark on a 2,500 mile row across the Pacific Ocean from south of San Francisco, California, to the islands of Hawaii. Kelsey will make this jour...

The waters of the Rio Grande form the entire 1,254-mile border between the state of Texas and Mexico. Some portions of that border are open, with no physical barrier and monitored primarily by surveillance. Other sections have a full wall, with others are slated for new construction. One long stretch through Big Bend is defined by deep, rugged canyons that seem to function as a natural barrier. An...

Jess Lewis started her company, Wyld Heart Co., to support river runners in the early stages of learning to run rivers. Her work focuses on mindset and heuristics that support personal growth alongside the technical skills needed to get boats down the river, and the mental skills required to grow through the challenges and “stuck on rock” moments that are inevitable for all river runners. She teac...

This episode was recorded live at the America Outdoors annual conference and is a conversation with three members from the Returning Rapids Project in Utah.  The Returning Rapids Project is documenting the changes and restoration happening to the reservoir-affected areas of the Colorado River and the San Juan River as Lake Powell continues to recede out of the river canyons it inundated with reser...

Rivers are always photogenic, even telegenic, and rivers often become the setting for many films. Each year since 1981, the National Paddling Film Festival (NPFF) has provided a collective presentation of river films. This year’s festival is happening on February 21, live and in person in Kentucky with a virtual streaming option available for the price of a cup of coffee. We have 3 guests bringing...

Do you ever get those wild ideas about running a river in a unique way, but they just stay ideas, and you kinda always wish you had followed through?  This episode is about an idea that became a reality.  In November of 2001, 3 people zipped up their drysuits, pulled on their swim fins, strapped their dry bags to river boards, and slid into the Colorado River beginning a 300 mile trip where river...

Ben Stookesberry paddles kayaks in his home state of Montana, and around the world. In his teen years he learned to make home movies showing off his rollerblading moves, and in college he learned to kayak. Today he blends the paddling and film making as he runs rivers in global settings. He has created deep and lasting friendships in his travels, and returns to rivers again and again, to paddle mo...

Podcasting is incredibly unique and fun work that has allowed me to meet so many rivers and river people. And podcasting is a job that I really just created for myself. Yes there are other podcasts and podcasters, but by nature of the work, we are all kind of hidden in quiet places behind microphones and editing screens, so finding a podcasting friend is so helpful. Ed Roberson has built the Mount...

The Vjosa River in Albania is one of the largest of the last free running rivers in Europe and recently it was protected with the new Vjosa Wild River National Park. The Vjosa sources from the mountains of Greece and flows north through Albania where it meets the Adriatic Sea. Eco Albania has led much of the work to create this National Park and our guest Dr Olsi Nika founded Eco Albania.  Dr Nika...

Amidst a flourish of media about Paddle Tribal Waters, a new film has published from Oregon Public Broadcasting & Jessie Sears, giving focus to the 2025 source to sea run completed by the indigenous teens of PTW. The film, “First Descent: Kayaking the Klamath”, is there to meet the paddlers at the Pacific Ocean when they complete their journey, is with them along the river and the film also engage...

In the spring of 1980, nine-year-old Bridget Crocker, while playing next to her home river, fell from a downed tree into the cold swollen Snake River — a scary swim that initiated a deep, lifelong relationship with rivers and river people. This year in 2025 her memoir “ The River’s Daughter” traces a thalweg of traumas, challenges and joys that played out in both her river life and her family life...

Across the United States, 640 million acres of public land belong to all of us — rivers that still run wild, deep canyons, mountain ranges, plains, and deserts. Places where the wild things live. Places we can still visit, explore, and trust that it will be there for generations or an eon. But this year, the push to sell or transfer those lands has surfaced — sometimes openly, sometimes in quieter...

Dr. Adriana Martinez grew up in Eagle Pass, Texas, swimming and playing in the Rio Grande as a part of daily life. 10 years after getting her Ph. D and teaching university classes in fluvial geomorphology, her Texas hometown and home river became the iconic center of the modern immigration debate and the setting for the controversial river buoy border fence.  In this episode she tells us about the...

Tim Palmer has spent much of his life floating down, writing about, and photographing America’s rivers. With 34 books and scores of awards to his name (including the first-ever lifetime achievement award presented by American Rivers), he’s one of river conservation's most seasoned voices. In this episode, guest host Clark Tate joins Tim to talk about a recent run down the newly dam-free Klamath, h...

This September brings the one year anniversary of Hurricane Helene and the powerful flooding that pounded Southern Appalachia. Incredible work has been to remove the bridges and cars and houses and trees that filled up the rivers. And more work continues today and for the next 18 months to clean up the remaining smaller trash. In this episode we learn about these details and how some communities d...

After incredible collaboration and momentum at the Snake River amongst several tribes and two states to create a legitimate pathway for the 4 Lower Snake River Dams to be breached and therefore allow the anadromous Salmon, Steelhead and Lamprey of the basin to avoid extinction, the collaboration has been cancelled by the current presidential administration.  Why?  What comes next?  Our guests are...